Could Season 6 have worked as Buffy's final season?

[Wesley Junior]

Do you think Season 6 could have worked as the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Season Seven just seems full of deus ex machina, constant speeches, nearly cardboard Potential Slayer characters, and a Big Bad that's more pesky than scary in comparsion to all the other Big Bads of the series. Yes, there were plenty of Spuffy moments in S7 but the show isn't just about them and Season Six seems to realize that and explore it in many ways.

If your answer to my question is no, what changes in your opinion would have to be made to make Season Six a final season?

 

[BuffyElevated]

I don't think season 6 would have worked well as the final season of the show. I don't really feel like there was that much closure for the characters at the end of that season. Although it would have been nice for me to go out knowing Xander saved the world and not Buffy, for a change. 🙂

 

[Lyri]

In my honest opinion, from a fan's POV, no.

There was too much left open. Spike's soul, Willow's melt down, Buffy wanting to show Dawn the world. As a fan, I would have been extremely annoyed if the show had finished here.

The only way I would have accepted it was if the show wasn't picked up for another season, and even then I would have wanted comics or a movie or something.

I can see series finale material in every other season, but for some reason, S6 just does not work for me.

 

[prophecygrrl]

I like Season 7, but I may be in the minority...

I mean, yes. Plot holes and deux ex machina and inconsistent pacing and things. Problems, I get it. But I think it still works well as a season, and I love the characterizations of Dawn, Buffy (yes, I LIKE General Buffy! And her speeches! 😛), Spike, and Anya. My shipper heart loves the Spuffy, and my feminist heart has made peace with the iffy finale, for the most part.

I don't think Season Six would've worked as the last season. Dude, depressing much. I guessing I don't need to give a recap of everything that happens, so you know what I mean. Grave is a nice finale, but it doesn't really tie up loose ends. It paves the way for the next season, mostly. I actually view Seasons 6 and 7 as complementary seasons...although I don't know anyone else who does the same, lol. Minority opinions, I have many.

 

[Taake]

In my honest opinion, from a fan's POV, no.

There was too much left open. Spike's soul, Willow's melt down, Buffy wanting to show Dawn the world. As a fan, I would have been extremely annoyed if the show had finished here.

The only way I would have accepted it was if the show wasn't picked up for another season, and even then I would have wanted comics or a movie or something.

I can see series finale material in every other season, but for some reason, S6 just does not work for me.

Completely agree, leaving off at season 6 would have left me very disappointed. I hate unanswered questions and plots not finished. It wouldn't have been enough for me if the comics would have started off from season 7 because I don't take them as seriously as I do the show.

Now I'm not all together pleased with s7 but having it is far better than not having it 🙂

 

[Thamior]

No, it wouldn't have. Season five would have been perfect, and if it weren't for episodes like OMWF, Tabula Rasa, Conversations with Dead People, etc., I kinda wish it had been over after season five. Don't get me wrong, I like seasons 6 and 7, but the Gift could've made a perfect final episode for the show.

I guess season 3 finale could've worked as well, what with Angel leaving and the scoobies finishing high school.

 

[Misty]

No. There were so many important things that happened in season 7, which made it a great final season.

 

[Doppelgang]

For season 6 to work as a final season, the spike soul story would have to have been resolved within it. For Xander and Willow series 6 would have been a great way to finish their stories, but what about Buffy, Anya, Dawn and Spike? Also, I think it was better to end with the first evil and caleb as the big bad, rather than Willow and Warren.

 

[VisionGirl]

No, no, and no.

While s7 is not perfect, I much prefer the way things were wrapped up in Chosen. Although knowing what I know now after reading s8, activating all the Potentials is problematic.

 

[VisionGirl]

Comments on this post
Buffyheaven agrees: Activiating all the potentials was stupid* I hated that whole plot line and from what I know of season 8, it was just a horrible plan and idea from Buffy and I sort of wish that Willow didn't agree to it, there are so many ideas they could've done.

For me it depends. When I'm watching Chosen, I tear up at Buffy's speech & I think the plan is cool. From the perspective of a season 8 reader, though, it was probably the wrong move. Now Joss has to figure out how to go from thousands of Slayers to none to the one called in the Fray universe...a mere 200 yrs in the future.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

Hmm, I don't think I would be satasfied with season 6 as final season. Season 7 is not that AWESOME, but it still has some good episodes, and I'm glad we got to see it 🙂

 

[MRNewman]

No.

Season 6 has far too many loose ends to be a series finale. It would have to be revamped on many levels to be able to be used as a series finale. As others have said, there's so many loose ends for Buffy, Anya, Dawn, and Spike that a 7th Season was a necessity.

 

[Tara Maclay]

I don't think it would have given the fans the closure that Chosen did.

 

[Abbeycat]

I don't think Season 6 could have worked as the final season. I think they needed season 7 to kind of wrap things up a little and have the closure.

 

[InsaneMystic]

While S6 is currently the only one I have unmitigated love for remaining, it would, of all the seven seasons, have been the one least suited for having the show end on it. The cliffhanger of Spike getting ensouled, especially, would've been an even bigger :wtf: factor to end with than the alley scene in AtS' "Not Fade Away".

1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 would all have made great endings. (2 would have been epic as an ending, especially... and if it had, I'd even still be on that ship. IMO, Joss sold out by bringing the bad-hair dude back in S3, I've said so even before the S8 debacle. 😛).

Even "Restless", odd as it would have been with all the foreshadowing left unresolved, could just have made a workable, if less-than-optimal ending due to its sheer surreality. Certainly would have left people talking, that one. 😀

 

[LadyLavinia]

Do you think Season 6 could have worked as the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Season Seven just seems full of deus ex machina, constant speeches, nearly cardboard Potential Slayer characters, and a Big Bad that's more pesky than scary in comparsion to all the other Big Bads of the series. Yes, there were plenty of Spuffy moments in S7 but the show isn't just about them and Season Six seems to realize that and explore it in many ways.

If your answer to my question is no, what changes in your opinion would have to be made to make Season Six a final season?

Who says that Season Six had to be the final season? I think the real problem so many fans have with Season Seven is that they cannot deal with the theme. The First Evil really brought home to roost the idea that everyone has darkness within him or herself and that in the end, we can each be our worst enemy. No one wants to face this. Such a theme shatters the illusion that the only kind of enemy is external.

 

[Tillow4ever]

I think it would be a good ending if it were to end right before Tara got shot in Seeing Red, but that's just the tillow shipper in me. lol The rest of me says that many of the characters still needed to develop, even though I don't like how Willow develops in season 7, I like how Dawn, Spike, Buffy, Xander, and Anya do, aside from Anya dying.

 

[LadyLavinia]

Willow was far from being a developed character in late Season 6. She had to develop in a way that she did not need someone or something as an emotional crutch. Yes, she began her relationship with Kennedy in S7, but she still had quite a road to travel.

People seemed to think that her relationship with Tara was perfect or near perfect. I don't. As much as she loved Tara, I believe that Willow used her to feed her own self-esteem. I believe did the same with Oz. Even worse, she used magic for the same objective. For those who believe that Willow's character was developed by the time Tara forgave her in "Entropy", I have to disagree. Strongly.

 

[Wesley Junior]

That's an interesting way to look at Willow and her relationships with Oz, Tara, and Kennedy. I never thought of them like that. I also find your views on S7 interesting too.

 

[A Flawed Fashion]

I could see season five being the finale very easily, but season 6 brings up so many new issues with the characters that it needs season 7 to end on. It brings everyone so far into depression that to go out on that note would be horrible. Everyone's life is ruined in season 6. In season 5, Buffy dies, but she dies with a purpose and meaning while the rest of the characters are pretty well sorted out. Season 6 leaves every one of them a complete mess.

A large part of me really loves the idea of season 5 being the finale, but none of me likes the idea of ending on season 6.